Bride Image - theology

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If anyone has theological knowledge or insight in the area, could you please explain the theology of being a bride of Christ. I have heard it said that all individual members of the Church are, in a sense, brides of Christ. Is this true? What does this mean about male members since they cannot be “brides?” Thank you. 🙂
 
The Church is the bride of Christ (consecrated religious are also considered brides of Christ) however, when the entire is the bride, it does include men. One has to think in cosmic terms about how God the Son is to be united with Church – it transcends our finite little minds who perceive time in a linear fashion.

God exists outside of time and space – if you know theoretical physics better than me you would say, time is space – which is true.

When one speaks of the great mysteries of the Church, this is one of them. We can try to understand, but we will not fully comprehend it until we are united with our Lord.
 
Each individual soul, too, in it’s relationship with Christ is the feminine (passive) force and thus His bride.

Yes, even souls with male bodies, because souls are physically genderless, but in relation to Christ are feminine. Though in relation to others (such as through evangelization) they may be the masculine (active) spiritual force, even if their body is female.
 
In Holy Communion, Jesus gives Himself to us entirely – Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

It is much like the marital embrace where we give ourselves wholly and completely to each other. In marriage, the two become one; the flesh unite.

In Holy Communion, we receive Jesus as our bridegroom. He gives us His Flesh. The two become one.

This is how much our Lord and Savior loves us! Our bridegroom waits for us at the altar of each Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
 
just me:
If anyone has theological knowledge or insight in the area, could you please explain the theology of being a bride of Christ. I have heard it said that all individual members of the Church are, in a sense, brides of Christ. Is this true? What does this mean about male members since they cannot be “brides?” Thank you. 🙂
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Thanks - if anyone else has more insight, please post it.
 
just me:
If anyone has theological knowledge or insight in the area, could you please explain the theology of being a bride of Christ. I have heard it said that all individual members of the Church are, in a sense, brides of Christ. Is this true? What does this mean about male members since they cannot be “brides?” Thank you. 🙂
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Thanks, anybody else?
 
just me:

I keep writing the same thing: Naked Without Shame by Christopher West is a great explaination of PJP II’s Theology of the Body.

The bridegroom and bride image is used by Christ to help us understand the intimacy that he is inviting us to. We are not just master and servant, owner or slave but moreso familial and intimate. Christ is the ultimate union of man to God. Therefore when we come into communion with him, it is indeed tantamount to marriage. Marriage is unity.

I’m not doing the TOB any justice here for its vast and comprehensive nature cannot be reduced to formulas for a forum. But I hope you find the time to investigate it. I promise you that it is completely sobering and satisfying in explaining this mystery of living with God through our bodies.

in XT.
 
just me:
If anyone has theological knowledge or insight in the area, could you please explain the theology of being a bride of Christ. I have heard it said that all individual members of the Church are, in a sense, brides of Christ. Is this true? What does this mean about male members since they cannot be “brides?” Thank you. 🙂
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Does the soul have a gender? - would a woman’s soul be femaile and a man’s male or are all souls considered to be female?
 
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batteddy:
Each individual soul, too, in it’s relationship with Christ is the feminine (passive) force and thus His bride.

Yes, even souls with male bodies, because souls are physically genderless, but in relation to Christ are feminine. Though in relation to others (such as through evangelization) they may be the masculine (active) spiritual force, even if their body is female.
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What do you mean when you say that souls are physically genderless? Souls aren’t physical at all but I question whether they are genderless. I am a male person not simply a person with a male body. When I die and leave my body behind I will still be a male person. We are ultimately human beings but penultimately we are male or female human beings. No other characteristic supersedes this.
 
The human person has a gender - male or female - and this goes beyond the physical body - so maybe you could say the soul of each individual is either male or female - not sure on this philosophy stuff- I may have worded this wrong. But as far as the bridal image goes, in philosophy, I think the feminine is sometimes considered passive - that the female part in a marital relationship is in some way passive. Consequently, the bridal, feminine image would be appropriate for each individual, in a sense, since we are recipients of graces - this is not to say we don’t do anything or cooperate with grace, though.
 
Souls aren’t physical at all but I question whether they are genderless. I am a male person not simply a person with a male body.
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Gender is a physical trait. You are only a male person because you are a person with a male body. Your soul is simple and without gender, except with regards as to what type of body it informs.
 
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batteddy:
Gender is a physical trait. You are only a male person because you are a person with a male body. Your soul is simple and without gender, except with regards as to what type of body it informs.
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Would you say that St. Joseph (who has not been assumed bodily in to Heaven) is both (or neither ) he n/or she? Likewise St. Theresa, St. Dominick and so on? I don’t think so! Gender is part of who we are. It is fundamental to each invidual’s identity.
 
We get to keep our gender! Christ’s resurrection simply attests to this. He did not come back androgenous. He came back as Man. And Mother Mary in heaven is the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Thus, gender remains. Why do we diminish the uniqueness of gender? I don’t know. If we believe in the resurrection of the body, it’s a given that we have the anatomical disposition we had here on earth.

in XT.
 
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